So where now for the British generation of 2008? No one will feel the bump back to earth quite as painfully as Chris Eaton. A darling of the British press for 24 hours, the 20-year-old from Surrey will now almost certainly have to return to the lower echelons of the men's game.

His world ranking, currently 661, will receive a bump-up thanks to his first-round victory here against Boris Pashanski but not high enough to prevent him having either to compete on the Futures Circuit, the level below the ATP tour and which prior to Wimbledon forced him to endure taxi rides through Uzbekistan in search of an opponent, or the qualifying stages of the ATP Challenger Series. That is one up from the Futures but again a bleak contrast to the joys of playing on Court One in front of a partisan crowd.

However, taking part in a grand slam has provided Eaton, a wildcard qualifier for Wimbledon, with the taste for more. "I'm definitely looking to get on the main tour," he said. "Wimbledon has shown me that I tend to raise my game when I play the better players and that in turn will improve my tennis."

The two other British men who slid out of view this week, Alex Bogdanovic and Jamie Baker, have the option of qualifying for the US Open or, as seems more likely, focusing on preparing for Britain's Davis Cup tie against Austria on September 19. That means British interest in the US Open, which takes place at Flushing Meadows in August, will be limited to the women's section.

Anne Keothavong, beaten by Venus Williams on Thursday after a gutsy performance, has already confirmed she will seek to qualify for the grand slam and Katie O'Brien, speaking after her win in the mixed doubles yesterday, suggested she would do the same."I want to compete in as many major tournaments as possible," the British No2 said.

Despite the scarcity of British participants in the second week of Wimbledon, O'Brien, who lost to the Israeli Shahar Peer in the first round 6-3, 7-5, believes this has been a successful tournament for the domestic contingent. "I think we have done ourselves justice. You haven't seen British players been smashed off the court and Anne and Chris in particular have done fantastic," said the 22-year-old. "It should be remembered that the players who enter the second week of Wimbledon are world-class. As a group, and Andy [Murray] aside we may not be at that level yet, but I feel we're getting there," she said. "All the women at this year's Championships did better than last year and I feel we'll progress again in 2009."

Such hope cannot be expressed for the men who had their lowest ever tally of entrants - only four - with Bogdanovic, Britain's No2 and the world No 242, going out in the first round at SW19 for the seventh year in a row. Rumour persists that the LTA will this year withdraw its funding from the 24-year-old, which includes footing the £750,000 bill for his coach, Brad Gilbert. "I haven't heard that but in the end that's up to them," Bogdanovic said. "I believe I'm getting better and that this time next year I can be a top-100 player."